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Curtain by Agatha Christie
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Curtain (original 1975; edition 2000)

by Agatha Christie

Series: Hercule Poirot (33)

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4,411542,605 (3.83)115
Fiction. Mystery. HTML:

The legendary detective saves his best for last as he races to apprehend a five-time killer before the final curtain descends in Curtain: Poirot's Last Case, the last book Agatha Christie published before her death.

The crime-fighting careers of Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings have come full circle??they are back once again in the rambling country house in which they solved their first murder together.

Both Hercule Poirot and Great Styles have seen better days??but, despite being crippled with arthritis, there is nothing wrong with the great detective and his "little gray cells." However, when Poirot brands one of the seemingly harmless guests a five-time murderer, some people have their doubts. But Poirot alone knows he must prevent a sixth murder before the curtain falls… (more)

Member:pollysmith
Title:Curtain
Authors:Agatha Christie
Info:Berkley (2000), Paperback, 224 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:***
Tags:None

Work Information

Curtain: Poirot's Last Case by Agatha Christie (1975)

  1. 01
    Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey (raizel)
    raizel: The detective /solver of the case tries to help the cause of justice.
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» See also 115 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 44 (next | show all)
Published in 1975, and supposedly written about 35 years earlier, which puts it at the beginning of World War II, apparently during the blitz.

I have read this before, when I was reading the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge. Now I have re-read it for my U3A Agatha Christie Reading Group. However we intend to keep up our reading and discussion next year.

Nearing the end of his life Hercule Poirot has discovered 5 murders where he believes innocent people have borne the responsibility but at someone else's design. He calls this person X. The place where he met Hastings so many years ago, Styles, has now become a guest house, and one of the people now staying there is X. Poirot realises that X will never be tried in a court of law and he is determined that he will deal with X himself. He wants Hastings to be his eyes and ears because he himself is crippled with arthritis, and prone to heart attacks, and in a wheel chair.

But Poirot understands the dangers to both Hastings and himself, as well as Hastings' daughter Judith who is also living at Styles.

This novel is a very fitting tribute to Poirot, obviously written while Christie was still enamoured with him, and not yet ready to kill him off. ( )
  smik | Oct 22, 2023 |
Read it in one evening. So... I thought the eventually revealed backstory regarding the villain Poirot was seeking was rather fanciful and far-fetched ... but then, wow was that whole concluding section effective! ( )
  Alishadt | Feb 25, 2023 |
Norton's best skill is manipulating people to murder others. His final act is to manipulate Poirot into murdering him. ( )
  aatumwa | Sep 27, 2022 |
A revolving bookcase in an Innovations catalogue* brought be back to the final Poirot novel, but written many years (30ish) earlier so it's chronologically more aligned to her pre war novels. On this reading I found it a little unengaging, but that may've been me. The plot takes us back to where Poirot began, the house Styles, where he is staying, a physically broken man, and where he has invited his faithful friend Hastings, to help prevent a murder. So an oddity in many ways but a completion of the Poirot story. *To say more would be a spoiler!
  Figgles | Aug 1, 2022 |
Classic Agatha Christie, with twists and turns you don't expect, but still the ending isn't totally a surprise because at least once or more, you anticipated who was the killer. In this case, there is a surprise twist at the end. I don't know if I've just read so much of her work that I can anticipate her, or if the clues were obvious, or maybe I read this before (I don't remember this one) and subconsciously remembered at least part of the ending. Overall, a fun, quick read, ideal for a time when you don't want to have to think too hard. The characters are standard archetypes and that makes it even more enjoyable since it usually isn't the archetype you would most expect that commits the murder. ( )
  Devil_llama | Jul 7, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 44 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (3 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Christie, Agathaprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Autiovuori, PekkaNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Barreto, MascarenhasTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bergvall, SonjaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bruin, G.R. deTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Correy, Michael P.Designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Dias, ManuelCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Fonticoli, DianaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Fraser, HughNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Guerra, SalvadorTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kořínek, OtakarTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Laine, Anna-LiisaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Liebe, Poul IbTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lispector, ClariceTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Llambrich, Ramon MargalefTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
MacAfee, MaraCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Margalef Llambrich, RamónTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Moffat, JohnReadersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pöhlmann, JanCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rey, Jean-AndréTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Schultz, MonikaCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Szeryńska, AnnaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Szeryńska, AnaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
Information from the Dutch Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
Wie van hen is een moordenaar.....

Poirots laatste moordzaak.
Dedication
First words
Who is there who has not felt a sudden startled pang at reliving an old experience, or feeling an old emotion?
Quotations
I was sitting in an armchair wrestling with the Times crossword and reading out the clues.
...
"The chaps between the hills are unkind."
"Tormentor," .... (p. 181)
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
WorldCat has ISBN 0396071910 for BOTH the 2-in-1 Curtain & The Mysterious Affair at Styles AND just for Curtain.
Publisher's editors
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Information from the Dutch Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
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Wikipedia in English (2)

Fiction. Mystery. HTML:

The legendary detective saves his best for last as he races to apprehend a five-time killer before the final curtain descends in Curtain: Poirot's Last Case, the last book Agatha Christie published before her death.

The crime-fighting careers of Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings have come full circle??they are back once again in the rambling country house in which they solved their first murder together.

Both Hercule Poirot and Great Styles have seen better days??but, despite being crippled with arthritis, there is nothing wrong with the great detective and his "little gray cells." However, when Poirot brands one of the seemingly harmless guests a five-time murderer, some people have their doubts. But Poirot alone knows he must prevent a sixth murder before the curtain falls

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary
Poirot's final case
Murder waiting to happen
Heart wrenching choices
(hardboiled)

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